Ottawa shooting: Mother of accused gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau cries for victims of attack, not her son

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CCTV shows Ottawa shooter

Surveillance video shows Michael Zehaf-Bibeau storming Parliament in a fatal attack that forced lawmakers to barricade themselves in meeting rooms.

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Ottawa, Canada: The mother of the man accused of killing a soldier at Ottawa's war memorial then storming Parliament before being shot dead says she is crying for the victims of the shooting, not her son.
In a brief and tear-filled telephone interview on Thursday, Susan Bibeau said she did not know what to say to those hurt in the attack.

The gunman, thought to be Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, in a photo released by Canadian media. Photo: Supplied

Just before 10am on Wednesday local time (1am AEDT Thursday), a gunman shot and killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo and then opened fire on the country's Parliament buildings.
"Can you ever explain something like this?" she said. "We are sorry."
Investigators offered little information about the gunman in Ottawa, identified as 32-year-old petty criminal Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.

Shot dead: Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Photo: Twitter @globeandmail

Canadian police conceded on Thursday that Zehaf-Bibeau was the lone gunman in the second attack in three days in what the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper described as terrorism.
Zehaf-Bibeau was a Canadian convert to Islam whose passport had been seized by authorities, federal sources say.
His mother said she was devastated for the victims of the attack.

Armed police respond to the shooting. Photo: AP

"If I'm crying, it's for the people," she said, struggling to hold back tears. "Not for my son."
She and her husband had earlier sent the AP a lengthy email expressing horror and sadness at what happened.
"I am mad at my son," the email said, explaining that he seemed lost "and did not fit in".

Hailed as a hero ... Canada's Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers is applauded in the House of Commons in Ottawa. Vickers confronted and shot Michael Zehaf-Bibeau in Canada's Parliament. Photo: Reuters

"I, his mother, spoke with him last week over lunch, I had not seen him for over five years before that," the email said. "So I have very little insight to offer."
Government officials credited Parliament Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, 58, with shooting the attacker just outside the MPs' caucus rooms.
MPs gave Mr Vickers a rousing standing ovation for saving their lives as Parliament resumed on Thursday morning.

 

Canada Parliament locked down

Police teams set up police tape outside Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. A gunman opened fire at the National War Memorial, killing a soldier, then moved to nearby Parliament Hill and was shot and killed by Parliament's sergeant-at-arms.

Court records that appear to be the gunman's show that he had a long rap sheet, with a string of convictions for assault, robbery, drug and weapons offences, and other crimes.
Zehaf-Bibeau was reportedly born Michael Joseph Hall but changed his name, sources said.
The Globe and Mail newspaper said he was recently designated a "high-risk traveller" by the Canadian government - meaning it was feared he would travel abroad to commit crimes - and that his passport had been seized.
No group, Islamic or otherwise, claimed responsibility for either the attack in Ottawa or the one near Montreal on Monday.